Xian O’Brien (née Christian Shaver), 42, died unexpectedly November 15. She graduated from MIT with a bachelor’s degree in biology and cognitive studies in 1998, and earned a PhD in the Pathobiology Graduate Program at Brown in 2010. She completed her graduate and postdoctoral research in the Department of Surgery at the Warren Alpert Medical School and was appointed an instructor in surgery. Her research focused on the development of new drugs to improve the ability of the human immune system to fight disease. She published scientific papers and trained a number of young investigators.
She is survived by her partner, Michael Cross, and her mother. Gifts in her memory can be made to the East Greenwich Animal Protection League, PO Box 184, East Greenwich, RI 02818; or Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Hasbro Children’s Hospital/Rhode Island Hospital Foundation, PO Box H, Providence, RI 02901.
